I had a chef tell me to never EVER use salt to try and pull the blood from any type of wild game. Salt actually only pulls blood from the BB clots and tightens the tendons in the breasts.....Instead, in a typical 6 or 8 inch pot, place the breasts in it )dont really matter how many) Add 3/4 pot of water, and about an 1/8 inch of white vinegar....Vinegar pulls all the blood, and losens the tendons, and muscles....I've tried it a hundred times and he's right. There is NO comparison to the old salt story.....Just be careful not to use too much vinegar because you will "pickle" the breasts.......Usually 3 or 4 mallard breasts and 2 or 3 medium duck breasts in the same pot, I'll let stand for about 2 -3 hours depending on how pink the meat gets.....Enjoy!

So I'll chime in on this one for fun.I work as a chef also and while I never would claim to know everything(no one should), I'd have to take issue with a couple of statements you made. What you made with your water solution is a brine. Putting salt in a brine is pretty standard practice to those that use that method.I think that your concern with the "toughening up of the tendons and muscles " can be eliminated two ways.First since the tendons(silverskin) are located in plain sight on the inside portion of the breast, it is pretty easy to run your knife under and remove them.When you cook the breast the heat will contract the tendon(silverskin) regardless so my point is they can't be tough if they are not there. Secondly the breast is a muscle and not muscles, not including the tender. I believe, if you will bear with me, that you lose more in tenderness and flavor penetration by not putting salt in your brine . Without getting into osmosis and things like that the salt will initially draw liquid out of the cells and then reabsorb the water allowing it too remain juicy.its also a great opportunity to get some other flavors in there while that action is taking place. Put some flavors that you like in your brine as well.Vinegar is acetic acid. In a brine to some degree i wold say o.k. but directly and in an amount to turn your flesh a different color i would say it's too strong. Plus now you have meat that tastes like vinegar to try and compensate with other seasonings. this has been a long reply to basically say i believe the benefits of salt in your brine far outweigh the method of leaving it out and that if your breast is dry and tough the more likely cause is that you overcooked it. Good eating to you and your family.

You can do the same with a soak in salt water when you clean the bird, then follow suit with a bit of whatever flavor your want, Coke soda, apple cider vinegar, citrus juice (pine apple, OJ, apple juice, wine, ETC). Then add some seasoning to it, brown sugar, honey, maple syrpe, paparika, and the like, just make it like you want it.